Ambient music radio program on Radio Spiral and LiveStream. Hosted by Rebekkah Hilgraves, Saturdays from 1-4pm Pacific Time/US.

October 25, 2014August 16, 2015

Beyond the Ghosts

It’s the weekend before All Hallow’s Eve. The veil between the worlds is thin, and the spirits of the dead roam the earth, giving us shivers and causing mischief where they may. Or gently touching loved ones to reassure them.

Unlike many Hallowe’en programs, this one is not ugly, or creepy, or terrifying. In fact, it’s one of our more beautiful in terms of the music you’ll hear, and the images we’ll share on the video feed feature some stunning graveyard images by photographer Gwynneth Anderson. (You can read her work at “Beyond the Ghosts” http://geanderson.wordpress.com/)

“Ghosts we all are (waag_sng007)” is David Gerard’s personal tribute to the We are all ghosts netlabel … he wrote it especially for the label and the community that has grown up around it. It is a vibrant piece with a distinct ebb and flow, a rhythm that is wonderfully immersive and rather hypnotic. And it segues very nicely into…

“…we believe that what is happening to us has already happened before, as though the present time were splitting in two, breaking in its own midst into two parts: an immediate reality, plus a ghost of that reality…. But the ghost soon wavers…. One would like to grasp it…. It passes again and again behind our eyes, diaphanous butterfly or dancing will-o’-the-wisp that toys with us…. Ten seconds later, it has all fled forever.”–Alain Robbe-Grillet, ‘Djinn’

The third Delicate Apparatus installment, and with a title inspired by a line from an old Ella Fitzgerald classic, this album is an exercise in drone-ambient and minimal distant percussion. It was released with an official video for the title track directed by Jan Mils, who has created some brilliant visuals for tracks by Skinny Puppy, Aphex Twin, Holger Czukay and Brian Eno. Now available @ http://splittingsoundsrecords.blogspot.com/

Chris Newman, the creator of the Delicate Apparatus project, writes of this album,

In the Spring of 2013 I found myself putting the finishing touches on the s/t Delicate Apparatus collection, having an abundance of ambient tracks I was recording as a contrast to the electronica of Crypton Radio Club. A rare sense of confidence convinced me the tracks were strong enough for the public to decide for themselves, and the s/t collection was met with favorable response and critique from my peers and a global fan base ensued. I further honed my skills on the “First We Take Utopia” follow up, which produced a minor ambient single with “Once Were Dreams”. “Utopia” found it’s way into the Top Ten of the ambient charts for NYC on Reverb Nation, peaking at number 3, an unheard of task considering the staggering amount of talent DA was in the company of, and the ruthless nature that is NYC in any particular genre. The stars must have been aligned in my favor while recording “Tone Of The Evening Drone” in the fall-winter of 2013, having found it an almost instantaneous effort, with the ideas flowing out with a tranquil and gracious ease. I am privileged and supremely blessed to share this collection with you, and look forward to sharing continued work with you in the future. Chris Newman Delmar NY 2014

The genesis of the title for this release, Teenage Yellow, has a rather funny story behind it. The song “Sukiyaki”, incredibly popular in the early 1960s and sung in Japanese, sounded strange to a six-year-old Disturbed Earth’s ears, and all he could figure was that there was a line in the song that included the words, “teenage yellow”. (You can hear an excellent stereo mix of the original song on YouTube, and someone spent many hours syncing the stereo version to the original promo video reel).

The album, along with the many others released by Disturbed Earth in recent months, was recorded live in a single take, using nothing but a guitar, some effects pedals and a tiny amp. Dean makes magic with minimal gear! The bugs-and-frogs sounds heard in “Societal” were recorded on a mini-disk player while on a recent vacation, and added during the performance as part of the atmosphere created for this track.